Dr. C. Phillip Miller Jr., 91, who made major...

September 08, 1985

Dr. C. Phillip Miller Jr., 91, who made major contributions in the field of bacteriology and in the immunology against infectious diseases; he was an original member of the University of Chicago medical school faculty, became professor emeritus in 1960 and retired in 1964; in the 1940s and 1950s he was consultant to the secretary of war and later the Army`s surgeon general; Sept. 4, in Chicago.

Henry Dieringer, 75, who retired in 1978 after 22 years as a judge in Illinois, beginning with his election to the Cook County Superior Court (now Circuit Court) in 1956; he won a seat on the Illinois Appellate Court in 1970 but was defeated in 1976 in his bid for election to the Illinois Supreme Court; Sept. 1, in a Barrington hospital.

Harold Himmel Velde, 75, former congressman first elected from central Illinois in 1948 who was elected chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1953; he won a seat on the panel because of his FBI service as an expert on sabotage and counterespionage in World War II; he was a delegate to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging; Sept. 1, in a Sun City, Ariz., hospital.

George O`Brien, 86, actor who made 75 motion pictures, including the westerns ``Fort Apache`` and ``The Iron Horse``; his 42-year Hollywood career began in 1919, when a friend introduced him to cowboy star Tom Mix, who hired him as an assistant cameraman at $15 a week; Sept. 4, in a Broken Arrow, Okla., nursing home.

Johnny Marks, 75, songwriter who wrote the Christmas classic ``Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,`` first recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry and which sold more than 12.5 million copies; a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he composed about 900 tunes, including ``I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day`` and ``A Holly Jolly Christmas``; Sept. 3, in a New York hospital.

Henry Rothblatt, 69, senior partner with the New York-based law firm of Rothblatt, Rothblatt and Seijas; a brash trial lawyer, his clients included the five Cubans from Miami who were arrested during the Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington in 1972; he dropped the case when his defendants insisted on pleading guilty; Sept. 1, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Joseph R. ``Philly Joe`` Jones, 62, jazz drummer who played with the legendary Miles Davis Quintet during the 1950s and who contributed to more than 500 record albums; he was at the vanguard of the evolution from pre-war big-band styles to post-war ``cool`` jazz; Aug. 30 (announced Sept. 2), in Philadelphia.

George A. Laadt, 87, chairman of the Chicago firm of Laadt & Company, insurance supervisors and company managers; he was a worldwide traveler who often retraced the steps of such historic figures as Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Hannibal and Civil War generals, and he was a former president of Chicago`s Adventurers` Club; Aug. 31, in his Oak Park home.

Dr. Arthur W. Fleming, 78, pediatrician at Chicago`s Mercy Hospital for more than 50 years and who initiated nurseries for premature infants at Mercy and Little Company of Mary Hospitals; he founded the University of Michigan`s Institute for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; Sept. 2, in Mercy Hospital.

Gonzalo Guell, 90, prime minister and foreign minister of Cuba in the 1950s under President Fulgencio Batista, deposed by Fidel Castro in 1959, and who was one of 40 officials who fled with Batista to the Dominican Republic;

he had served several earlier Cuban administrations as ambassador to Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and the Organization of American States; Sept. 2, in Coral Gables, Fla.

Joseph Hutchinson, 54, who formed the gospel singing group the Hutchinson Sunbeams, which in the late 1960s evolved into the Emotions, an award-winning rhythm-and-blues trio that now records for Motown Records; until 1980, he managed and directed the group, made up of three of his daughters; Sept. 1, in Chicago.

Saunders Lewis, 91, Welsh nationalist, author, playwright and antiwar activist who helped found thr Welsh Nationalist Party, or Plaid Cymru, in 1925 and was its president for 10 years; he was one of the century`s most celebrated Welsh political and literary figures; Sept. 1, in Cardiff, Wales.

David H. Brill, 89, longtime Loop attorney and former member of the law firm of Ryan & Brill; during the Eisenhower administration, he headed a task force to liquidate government-owned real estate and was former consultant to director of the bureau of the budget; Sept. 2, in Chicago.

Ethel Dwyer McCrady, 86, actress who starred as Jane in an eleaborate but short-lived Broadway production of ``Tarzan and the Apes`` in 1921; she began her stage career with a part in the chorus of ``Fiddlers Three`` and later made several silent movies; Sept. 2, in Edgewood, Pa.

Sir Mohammad Zafrullah Khan, 92, Pakistan`s first foreign minister

(1947-54) and former president of the International Court of Justice

(1970-73); he also was a former president of the United Nations General Assembly; Sept. 1, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

he won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his pioneering research into the nature of viruses and the human body`s immune-response system; he retired in 1965 as professor of experimental medicine at Melbourne University and as director of the medical research institute there; Aug. 30, in Port Fairy, Australia.

William H. Blackburn, 67, a prominent Aurora obstetrician and civic leader who helped raise millions of dollars for hospitals and charities in the Fox Valley; he was a board member of Aurora University and former chief of staff at Copley Memorial Hospital in Aurora; Sept. 2, in Switzerland.